Amusement and exercise device

ABSTRACT

Amusement and manual dexterity skills are provided by a device comprising a paddle-shaped stick having a narrow central portion integral with and between two flat blade end portions that is gripped at one of the end portions by the user, flipped into the air where it rotates and twists, and caught by the user in accordance with predetermined rules. The device or stick has upper and lower sides of contrasting colors and each side includes indicia thereon to indicate a gripping point on one of the flat blade portions of each of the upper and lower sides whereby when the stick is gripped with the thumb at this point and flipped into the air twisting of the device will occur as it rotates.

United States Patent [1 1 Moore 1 Nov. 6, 1973 AMUSEMENT AND EXERCISE DEVICE Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham [76] Inventor: Robert B. Moore, 113 Braemar Dr., Assistant Examiner paul Grove Attorney-Carlton H1 Ct 81.

[22] Filed: Feb. 3, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 223,189 [57] ABSTRACT Y ,Amusement and manual dexterity skills are provided by a device comprising a paddle-shaped stick having a [52] U.b. Cl. 273/106 R, 272/57 R narrow centra portion integral Wm and between two [51] Int. Cl A63b 65/00 e flat blade end portions that IS gripped at one of the end [58] Fleld'of Search 273/106, 95, 1 R,

273/96 R 97 R. 27257 R portions by the user, flipped nto the arr where it rotates and twists, and caught by the user in accordance with predetermined rules. The device or stick has upper and [56] References cued lower sides of contrasting colors and each side includes UNITED STATES PATENTS indicia thereon to indicate a gripping point on one of 1,367,585 2/1921 Brady.... 273/106 R the flat blade portions of each of the upper and lower 2,238,713 4/1941 Warmg 273/106 R sides whereby when the stick is gripped with the thumb 3,691,674 9/1972 Thompson 273/106 R X at this point and flipped into the air twisting of the vice will occur as it rotates.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures AMUSEMENT AND EXERCISE DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention generally relates to a device which may be used to provide amusement and to develop manual dexterity skills. Specifically, the invention concerns a paddle-shaped stick having a narrow central portion integral with and between two flat blade end portions which end portions have indicia thereon indicating a gripping point so that when the stick is gripped at the indicia by the hand of the user and flipped in the air it will follow a predetermined course of movement. The opposite sides of the stick may have contrasting colors and may include other indicia so that amusement and manual dexterity skills arejprovided by attempting to flip the device and catch it with the same or contrasting side up in accordance with predetermined rules.

Manual dexterity skills are highly valued by both children and adults and their development in most cases is a long sought after goal. Similarly, most people are interested in perfecting their coordination of their arms, hands, eyes and fingers. With manual work being taken over by machines those interested in developing their dexterity and coordination skills are turning to the areas of sports and recreation. It has been my experi- I SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The long existing needs in the prior art are filled by my invention of a device comprising a'paddle-shaped stick having indicia thereon which, being relatively small, may be gripped in the hand of the user in accordance with the indicia thereon; may be flipped into the air where it rotates and twists; and may be caught in the hand again in accordance with predetermined rules. A very small space is required and the device itself is simple to manufacture and therefore very economical. Not only does it develop coordination and dexterity of the arm, hand, eye, fingers, and thumb but also it provides a great deal of amusement. It lends itself to use by an individual or a group of persons and the size and shape may be varied to accommodate both adults and children.

The device according to my invention which provides these advantages comprises a paddle-shape stick having a narrow central portion integral with and situated between two flat blade endportions. The device or stick has upper and lower sides of contrasting colors and each of theseupper and lower sides has indicia thereon to indicate a particular thumb gripping point on one of the flat blade portions on each of the upper and lower sides. By holding the device between the forefingers with the thumb at the gripping point the stick should follow a predetermined movement when flipped into the air by the user. By attempting to flip the device and catch it in a particular place or manner in accordance with predetermined rules my invention develops coordination and dexterity skills while also providing amusement.

When the gripping point is to one side of a longitudinal center line on the upper and lower sides I have found that the stick will twist along the longitudinal axis approximately 180 for each full end to end turn that the stick makes in the air. With the opposite sides of the stick being in contrasting colors it will be seen that for one full turn the stick will appear to switch from the color of one side to the color of the other side. Two full turns will rotate the stick a full 360 and hence the same color .will come up. In a room with a low ceiling the number of full turns which the stick makes will be dependent upon the speed at which it is rotated. The greater the speed, however, the more difficult it is to catch. This increases the skill required and is an illustration of the adaptability of the device to a wide range of conditions of play.

The device may be integrally formed of a material having a substantially uniform density throughout. Thus, it may be of wood or plastic and may be made of a single piece or of two longitudinal halves having contrasting color. The blade portions advantageously are of a width equal to the width of the fingers on the hand of the user and the thickness of the blade may be relatively small as compared with the width.

The indicia on the blade includes the thumb gripping point just off the center of the longitudinal axis. These thumb gripping points occur at the opposite sides of the same flat end portion of the stick. Accordingly, if the stick is flipped with say a black side up, a rotation through one full turn should find in the hand of the user with the thumb gripping point in the same position but with the color changed to white, for example. The stick may include other indicia, as .for example, the other end portion may have diagonally extending stripes to provide an interesting effect as it is thrown through the According to my invention the method of providing amusement and developing coordination and dexterity skills comprises the steps of holding the paddle-shaped device in one hand wth the forefingers in contact with the bottom side and the thumb at the gripping point on the upper side, moving the armsand/or wrist and releasing the grip on the device to flip it into the air so that it rotates and twists and then catching it after a predetermined rotatiojn. When played with a single person the method may include performing the same or sequence of flips in a given time or until an error is made. The method may also include the steps of flipping the device with one hand and catching it with another. When two or more persons are playing with the same stick the method may include the step of one person flipping the stick with another person catching the stick. Many other variations are possible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of certain preferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the paddle-shaped stick showing the indicia on the upper side in solid lines and the indicia on the lower side in dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is an elevational side view showing the thickness of the device and illustrating with dotted lines the position of the hand of a user;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the device of FIG. 2 taken along the lines III-III showing the offset gripping points;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of how the device might be flipped and indicating its pathof travel; and,

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the device illustrating how the flat end portion may be gripped.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1 there may be seen a device generally indicated at in the form of a paddle-shaped stick having a narrow central portion 12 integral with and situated between flat blade end portions 14 and 16. From FIG. 2 it may be seen that the stick 10 has an upper side 10a and a lower side 10b of contrasting colors. Thus, for example, the upper side 10a may be white and the lower side 10b may be black.

Each of the upper and lower sides 10a, 10b, respectively, may have indicia thereon. As may be seen in FIG. 1 indicia 20 on the upper flat blade end portion 14a indicates a gripping point whereby if the thumb of the user indicated schematically in dotted lines in FIG. 2 at T is placed in the area indicated by indicia 20 and the fingers indicated in dotted lines at F are placed in contact with the lower side l4b.and the stick 10 is flipped into the air the stick will follow a generally predetermined movement. For example, when the gripping point 20 is to one side of a longitudinal center line 1 la of the upper surface 10a the device, if thrown correctly,shou1d make a half-twist of approximately 180 about the line 11a for each full end over end rotation of the stick 10 in the air. Thus, when the stick as shown in FIG. 2 is flipped into the air through one full turn end over end it will twist 180 so that when it is caught at the same end from which it is flipped the sides will be reversed with the dark side 14b up and the light side 14a down as shown in FIG. 4. In such case the gripping point 22 will now be in position for the thumb to grip.

According to the method of my invention the end of the stick 10 is always gripped with the fingers below the end portion and the thumb above. With this grip and with the right hand being used, the thumb gripping points will lie to the right side of the center line as illustrated by the gripping point 20 lying to the right ofthe center line 11a in FIGS. 1 and 3. It will be understood that the indicia indicating the gripping point may be such that either hand may be used. This of course is true of the gripping points 20 and 22 since a left handed user will merely place his thumb to the left of the thumb print shaped indicia and this thumb will be in the correct position. With the ends 14, 16 of the stick 10 being ofa width generally equal to the hand of the user it will be understood that the thumb will tend to be generally naturally positioned.

FIG. 3 is'an end view of the stick 10 of FIG. 2 and shows the offset of the gripping point 20 from the center line 1 1a and the offset of the gripping point 22 from the center line 11b.

In addition to the gripping point indicia, the device 10 may include other indicia such as the stripes indicated in .FIG. 1 at 24 on the upper side 16a of the flat end portion opposite to that on which the gripping point is situated. The side 16b may also have corresponding stripes indicated in dotted lines at 26 in FIG. I. These indicia provide optical sensations when the device has been tossed into the air and is rotating and twisting. In certain instances the indicia may provide optical illusions which serve to amuse and develop the skill of the user.

To accommodate both adults and children the shape and size of the device 10 advantageously may vary. In this regard it is my experience that the overall length of the device 10 may vary from nine inches for a child to eighteen inches for a large adult. Within these length variations the thickness of the device may vary from A to 1% inches and the width of the flat blade portion 14 and 16 range from 2 to 6 inches while the length of the connecting arm 12 may vary from 3 to 12 inches. The device may be of a wood or plastic material having a substantial uniform density throughout. With the above noted range of sizes the weight of the device will vary from 3 ounces to 21 ounces. While the particular shape may vary I have found it advantageous to provide rounded edges so that the device 10 may be comfortably held. The device may be of uniform thickness along its length, however, as illustrated, I have found that the connecting arm or stick 12 may be of reduced thickness. Also, it is possible that this portion may be made flexible to provide different types of movement of the device in the air. It is also contemplated by my invention that the end portions 14 and/or 16 may be weighted to provide a non-uniform weight distribution and to thereby result in unusual type or eccentric movements of the device 10 when it is flipped into the air. These variations may be ,seen to require greater skill by the user and hence it is possible that my device may take the form of a simple uniform weight beginners model, and an intermediate and/or advanced model having different weight and/or flexibility arrangements. Thecolor and/or indicia of the device 10 may be varied to indicate different sizes and/or different models.

The development of manual coordination skills while providing amusement comprises the steps of holding the paddle-shaped device 10 in one hand as illustrated in FIG. 4 with the right hand thumb T positioned in the area of the gripping point 20 on the surface and the four fingers F contacting the surface 14b so the device is firmly gripped. From this position the user, by wrist or arm action, flips the device 10 into-the air where it may follow a path as generally indicated in FIG. 5 and rotate and twists so that, for example, after it has completed one full end to end rotation in the air it will have twisted approximately Thus, while the device 10 may be held in the position as shown in FIG. 2 prior to release it should be caught in the position indicated in FIG. 5 with its upper and lower sides 10a, 10b reversed. While this constitutes the basic method it will be understood that many variations may be effected without departing from. the scope and spirit of my invention. For example, where a single person is using the device 10 he may flip it with one hand so it rotates a predetermined number of times and then catch it with the other hand. This action may be repeated for a certain period of time to determine the greatest number of successful completions within the prescribed time or it may be flipped until an unsuccessful attempt, in which case the number of successful attempts would be an indication of a particular level of skill. Where two or more persons are using the device they may jointly or severely flip together to determine the greatest skill in accordance with predetermined rules. Also, the device may be flipped by one person and caught by another. Moreover, the rules may provide that the device must be caught with the side up being of the contrasting color to the side thrown.

From the foregoing description of the invention it may be seen that I have provided a device which is relatively small, may be gripped in the hand of the user in accordance with the indicia thereon; may be flipped into the air to take a predetermined flight path; and may be caught in the hand again in accordance with predetermined rules. Not only does the device develop coordination and dexterity of the arm, hand, eye, fingers and thumb but also it provides amusement to an individual or group of persons of all ages.

Although minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody'within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as might reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.

I claim:

1. A device to provide amusement and develop manual dexterity skills comprising a paddle shaped stick having a narrow central portion integral with and between .flat blade end portions, said stick having an upper side and a lower side, sad upper and lower sides having contrasting colors, said upper and lower sides having indicia thereon with said indicia indicating a gripping point on one of said flat blade portions on each of said upper and lower sides, said gripping point serving to provide a predetermined movement of the stick when the stick is gripped at said point and flipped into the air whereby amusement and skill development is provided by attempting to flip said device and catch it with the same or contrasting side up in accordance with predetermined rules.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein said predetermined'action of said stick is a half twist for each full turn the stick makes iii the air whereby the side that is up when the stick is flipped will be down if the stick is caught after one full turn.

3. A device according to claim 1 wherein said device is integrally formed of a material having substantial uniform density throughout.

4. A device according to claim 1 wherein said device is made of two longitudinal halves each of said halves having a contrasting color.

5. A device according to claim 1 wherein said gripping point is to one side of a longitudinal center line of said upper and lower sides.

6. A device according to calim 1 wherein said blade portions are of a width approximately equal to the width of the fingers on one hand of the user and said blade portions are relatively thin as compared to said width.

7. A device according to claim 1 wherein said indicia includes diagonal stripes on a flat blade end portion on each of said upper and lower sides. 

1. A device to provide amusement and develop manual dexterity skills comprising a paddle shaped stick having a narrow central portion integral with and between flat blade end portions, said stick having an upper side and a lower side, sad upper and lower sides having contrasting colors, said upper and lower sides having indicia thereon with said indicia indicating a gripping point on one of said flat blade portions on each of said upper and lower sides, said gripping point serving to provide a predetermined movement of the stick when the stick is gripped at said point and flipped into the air whereby amusement and skill development is provided by attempting to flip said device and catch it with the same or contrasting side up in accordance with predetermined rules.
 2. A device according to claim 1 wherein said predetermined action of said stick is a half twist for each full turn the stick makes in the air whereby the side that is up when the stick is flipped will be down if the stick is caught after one full turn.
 3. A device according to claim 1 wherein said device is integrally formed of a material having substantial uniform density throughout.
 4. A device according to claim 1 wherein said device is made of two longitudinal halves each of said halves having a contrasting color.
 5. A device according to claim 1 wherein said gripping point is to one side of a longitudinal center line of said upper and lower sides.
 6. A device according to calim 1 wherein said blade portions are of a width approximately equal to the width of the fingers on one hand of the user and said blade portions are relatively thin as compared to said width.
 7. A device according to claim 1 wherein said indicia includes diagonal stripes on a flat blade end portion on each of said upper and lower sides. 